First Love

How could anyone look into those big brown eyes, run their hands across those magnficient chest, leg and rump muscles, caress the velvet soft nose, feel the warm breath on the back of their neck on a chilly morn, and not fall in love? Impossible.

I fell in love at an age when it could still be given freely, without condition and reservation. My first love was a lifetime love, sometimes hidden deep in my heart, but always present, even if only known to me. The first love of my life taught me a thing or two about passion, heartache, happiness, and, on occasion, even fear.

By the time I could walk with no hesitation across the living room floor, I was having a love affair that would impact the whole of my childhood and influence the adult I would someday become. Her name was Casey and she was as beautiful as the rainbow of promise that is given by the sun after the most fierce of storms. The coat she wore every day was the color of rich cherry wood and her love for grains was evident in her girth. All in all there really was nothing overly impressive about Casey. I suspect now that stealing my heart was part of her job, a job for which she was paid no more than a warm bed and a good meal.

I probably learned to count thanks to Casey. If today is Satuday, six days till it is Saturday again and I can go see Casey. She was every child's dream nanny, even thought she sometimes laid down on the job, exhuasted from going round and round with me. Other loves came and went, but none of them ever truly replaced Casey and none ever will. Casey was one of a kind and those afternoons shared with a horse and my grandfather--two of the greatest loves in my life can never be replaced.

Casey and Grandad, I miss you both more than you will ever know.

Montana Silversmiths

About First Love:
The week before Christmas, my grandfather passed away. My grandparents raised me from the time I was two months old, so he was also my father. Grandad was a man that had passion for everything he did and one of his greatest passions in life was horses.

For his birthday in 2003, I gave him a sculpture that was a symbol of the passion that he passed down to me. It is called appropriately, First Love.